The following article appeared in The Reporter on 5/26/05, written by Allison Elyse Gualtieri and Jim White.

They each enlisted, years apart, but for the same reason: Their country needed them, and they answered the call. Ronald Hartman, of Bridgewater, Bill Conners, of South Bound Brook, and Ted Dima, of Hillsborough, all members of Chapter 27 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, gathered last week to tell their stories about the three different wars in which each had served. They also talked about the similarities between their experiences and the United States' latest conflict in Iraq, from where two Somerville Army recruiters -- Will White and David Benner -- recently returned. "I never thought I'd be in the infantry, a foot soldier," said Dima, who moved his draft date up and went to Vietnam in February 1967 after leaving school. "I thought, let's go in, get it done."

Hartman also enlisted, only he did so two decades earlier: June 3, 1941, during World War II. "We didn't know how quick we'd get into it," said Hartman. After being sworn in at Fort Dix and trained at Fort Belvoir, Hartman was assigned to Fort Devins in Massachusetts. Not long after that, he was aboard the Queen Mary, headed for Europe. Conners also served in World War II, but reentered active service in 1950 to serve in the Korean War. On May 23, 1951, three of his ribs were cracked by a ricocheting bullet. Two months later he was crippled for life by a Chinese grenade.

All three were wounded in combat, but that's not where the similarities end: All three were also in major incidents, which none fully understood at the time. "You don't realize what you're a part of while you're doing it," said Conners, referring to news accounts and movies of the various conflicts. Dima described Kham Duc as "our Battle of the Bulge." A four-day battle, Kham Duc was a bloody conflict, and one Dima said he didn't realize the significance of until years after the war, when he read accounts of it. "We didn't know anything about it. We were just flown out and told to defend this camp," he said. "This battle had been going on for four days, we found out."

D-Day, according to Hartman, who landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy, is similarly difficult to believe in hindsight. He said, "You could walk to the shore on the bodies. And you look back and think, my God, I waded through that waist-deep."

Conners and Hartman joined the various veterans' groups immediately after leaving the Army, and Conners went to school on the GI Bill. For Dima, however, it was a different story.

"I didn't get involved in any veterans' organizations until 5, 6 years ago. I got married and was busy raising a family. I didn't start thinking about it until the Gulf War," Dima said. "Those first 20 or 30 years, I didn't have a thought about the military or what I did." Perhaps that was because coming home was so different. Although all three came home and spent time in the hospital, Dima's homecoming was more difficult.

"You close your eyes and go to sleep, and you wake up in the U.S. all alone," he said, referring to the fact that three days earlier, he had been on the battlefield. "People looked at you like you came from Mars. At that time, people weren't really supporting the troops or the uniforms." "Do I regret my service? No, no." said Conners, a sentiment which the others expressed as well. In fact, there was some discussion of mandatory military service, so that there would be a better understanding.

"If everybody took part, and had some kind of service to your country, and it doesn't have to be a combat unit, it could be in a humanitarian way, they'd see what it was like to serve your country," said Dima. "I think we should have a large standing army," said Hartman. "It might be expensive, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper than fighting a war." "Everybody's got their hand out for something, but they don't want to do anything for it," said Conners. "That's the way I feel about it." While all support the troops currently overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan, they wondered aloud about the policies and those who are currently writing them.

"How come these guys don't learn from their mistakes?" Dima said of the Iraq war. "You hear about things going on in Iraq, and it sounds just like Vietnam, with the rules and constraints they're under." "It's like you've graduated from school, and the kids who are going to school are just learning what you already know," Hartman said. "You didn't know when you started either." "Do I appreciate what they're doing today, our military? I sure do," said Conners "We've all seen the history in WWII, in Korea, in Vietnam, of the mass slaughter of civilians by their leaders, and that's what's going on over in Iraq and Afghanistan right now."

Will White, 21, of North Carolina got back from Iraq a little more than a year ago and is now an Army recruiter at Somerville's downtown recruiting station. He too is a Purple Heart recipient, though he said he doesn't like to dwell on the circumstances that led to the award and the two close friends he lost in the war. White, who resides in Raritan, did say that his 82nd Airborne unit was traveling through Fallujah when the truck he was in was hit by a roadside bomb. He said he caught shrapnel in the arm and face. "It wasn't too severe, I lost some blood. I took a lot of metal to my arm but it didn't take me out of the game," he said. In fact, White said he and his fellow soldiers usually enjoyed passing through Iraqi cities.

"It was always great going through the cities. The kids would run up to us. They were happy to see us," he said. And White said he is proud of the work he and his fellow soldiers did over there. "At first I was kind of hesitant, but once I got down there and realized how many people we are helping, I'd rather be there right now," he said. "We gave women rights, established a government." But White said he enjoys his job as a recruiter. "I'm putting future soldiers next to my buddies right now," he said. White did concede being away from family can be hard on young soldiers.

"I'm a big momma's boy, so I missed my momma," he said. "Any chance I'd get I would get on the phone and call my momma." White's fellow recruiter, David Benner, 25, of Bridgewater, described his experience in Iraq as some of the best and worst times in his life. "The worst was not knowing what was going on back home," said Benner, who served with the Army's 7th Battalion, 101st Airborne. "The best -- receiving that first piece of mail, a letter from my wife."

Benner is not a Purple Heart recipient but was sent home early from Iraq, in October of 2003, after he blew out his knee jumping into a manhole. "I would have rather stuck it out for the rest of year and came home with them," he said of his unit.

"The soldiers I met are like an extended family. It doesn't matter who you are, what color you are or where you're from. I got your back, you got mine. I love my Army, I love my soldiers, I love my country. And I would do anything for it."